Usno Baru officially a registered political party

KOTA KINABALU: Usno Baru is finally an officially registered party after it was stuck in a state of shambles for five years, following internal disputes within the party.

Usno or United Sabah National Organisation was rebranded to Usno Baru on August 28, 2013.

For the past five years, the party was stuck in its registration phase as it could not proceed further due to the disputes.

On Thursday, the party finally managed to hold its first ever official annual general meeting (AGM) since its reformation.

In the meeting, Ibrahim Linggam was elected as the new president while Leong Chau Chu and Matbee Ismail were elected as the deputy president and secretary-general respectively.

It is understood that that Ibrahim is considered to be the first 'official' president for Usno Baru since his predecessor, Dulli Tiaseh held the post whilst the party was still unofficial.

Ibrahim won the presidency after beating Dulli as the former had managed to secure eight votes while the latter only won two.

Leong won her seat uncontested and another eight members were elected as supreme council members.

The AGM was held as per a letter that was sent by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) office in Kuala Lumpur.

The letter was sent on November 7 where it was stated that the RoS had ordered Usno Baru to conduct their AGM within the next 30 days.

There were only about ten original pro tem members who attended the meeting. All participated in the voting process.

In 2015, the RoS ordered the party to suspend all of its activities until its internal disputes had been settled.

"For now the party will be neutral. We will not join any side," Ibrahim said when reporters asked him about the direction of the party.

"We are a multiracial party. There are Dusuns, Bajau, Chinese and a lot of other races in our party," he added.

Leong urged all the past and present members of Usno who are still 'on and under the fence' to come back together under the wing of Usno Baru.

"Let us uplift Usno Baru together. This is the sacred party that has given birth to the independence of Sabah," said Leong.

Meanwhile, Matbee said that Sabahans still remember Usno even up till now as it is regarded as one of the parties that shaped Sabah's independence.

Matbee stressed that the party's main objective is to form the new Sabah state government.

Another meeting will be held on December 13 to discuss the membership rights and to set up the party divisions.

Usno was initially formed by former Chief Minister Tun Datu Mustapha Harun in 1961.